Jaguars rattle Wildcats, 52-16

September 7, 2013

TRUMAN - Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman sophomore C.J. Hodge was asked this week to help the Jaguar offense with senior tailback Jared Green out with an injury.

Hodge proceeded to do just that, carrying the ball 16 times for 162 yards as the Jaguars routed the Southwestern United Wildcats, 52-16, on Friday night in Truman.

"He (Hodge) was a young guy we pulled up to help our running offense in this week's game because Jared tweaked his ankle," said Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman head coach Lee Dallager. "I think after tonight's game he will have a bigger part in our offense from now on."

Article Photos

SURPRISING SPEED — Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman sophomore running back C.J. Hodge races down the field for one of his two touchdowns as Southwestern United defender Marcelo Esqueda and Jaguars’ fullback Lucas Maday follow the play during nonconference football action on Friday in Truman. The Jaguars downed the Wildcats, 52-16. (Photo Courtesy of Sue Petrowiak)

Hodge's first carry of the game helped the Jaguars take an early lead in the opening minutes of the contest.

After senior Jared Wander forced the Wildcats to fumble on the opening play of the game, the Jaguars would go 30 yards for a score.

Josh Wolter handed off on back-to-back plays to Jake Wolter for four yards, before connecting with tight end Ryan Shumski on a 13-yard pass to put the ball on the 13 with a first and goal.

From there, Hodge raced around the left edge for the 13-yard score. Josh Wolter went into the end zone himself for the two-point conversion to make it 8-0 at the 10:34 mark in the first.

The Jaguar defense denied the Wildcats any scoring opportunity, forcing a fumble on third and 11 to eventually get the ball back after a failed fourth down play.

Josh Wolter started the Jaguars' second scoring drive with a five-yard run, moving the ball inside the Wildcats' 40.

Hodge carried the ball on back-to-back plays, racing for first downs with runs of seven and 15 yards.

Jake Wolter got in on the offensive action as well, using a pair of stutter steps to wriggle past the Wildcat defenders for a 13-yard gain and giving the home team the ball on the four-yard line.

Josh Wolter grinded out two yards on the first and goal scoring attempt, before finding Jake Wolter through the air in the back of the end zone for the two-yard strike.

A perfectly run option pitch from Josh Wolter to Hodge allowed the running back to find the end zone again, this time for the two-point conversion to make it 16-0.

"The first half today looked like we should be able to play all the time. We made good decisions and things were looking good on both sides of the ball," said Dallager. "There are still things that need to be sharpened before Friday's first league game, but I was happy with a lot of things I saw."

While the Jaguar defense continued to stump the Wildcats, holding them to just 124 yards on the ground and four yards through the air, the Jaguar offense churned out another 15 points before halftime.

"Defensively, I thought that we were applying good pressure and we were much improved on our positioning and being where we needed to be," said Dallager. "That helped us get those interceptions and caused them problems so that was nice to see."

Jake Wolter, who carried the ball 10 times for 95 yards for the Jaguars, showed his speed as he motored past a host of defenders for a 50-yard score with just over 10 minutes left in the opening half.

The Jaguars then capped their scoring through the air to increase their lead.

Josh Wolter, who completed 9 of 10 pass attempts for 140 yards, found senior Josh Johanson on a fade pass for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 2:22 left in the second quarter.

Johanson caught six other passes in the game from Josh Wolter, tallying 119 yards on offense while grabbing a pair of passes out of the air for interceptions on the defensive side.

The Wildcats were finally able to get on the scoreboard in the final minutes of the third quarter, as quarterback Dakotah Schmid, who had 20 carries for 63 yards, found the end zone on an eight-yard run.

Wildcat running back Jordan Hall, who ran for 85 yards on 14 touches, crossed the goal line for Southwestern's other touchdown, scoring with 51.9 seconds left.

Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman (1-1) plays host to Madelia in the Southern Confederacy League opening game at 7 p.m. next Friday in Truman.

Southwestern United (0-2) hosts Fulda in a 7 p.m. game next Friday in Brewster.

Nicollet 21, Madelia 20 - Nicollet's Dalton Elliott ran for 107 yards and threw for 158, including a touchdown, as the Raiders held off the Blackhawks in Southern Confederacy League action in Madelia on Friday night.

Nicollet took a 21-14 lead into the fourth quarter, on a third-quarter 27-yard interception return for a touchdown by Jay Hendrycks.

Jack Bergeman scored for Madelia on a 3-yard run with about 9 minutes remaining in the game, getting the Blackhawks within one.

Madelia got the ball back two more times, but its drives ended on an interception and on downs.

Bergeman led the Madelia defense with 12 tackles, while Denn added three sacks.

Matt Christenson paced Nicollet's defense with 18 tackles.

Madelia visits Truman/Granada-Huntley-East Chain in another Southern Confederacy game at 7 p.m. next Friday in Truman.

Blue Earth Area 39, Mound Westonka 18 - Luke Schavey stepped in as quarterback, and with the help of running backs David Franta and Gus Phillips, the Bucs handed the White Hawks a 39-18 loss on Friday in Mound.

Schavey connected 14 of his 22 passing attempts for 220 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, along with running nine times for 89 yards.

Franta caught six of Schavey's passes for 129 yards, including three receptions for TDs, while Phillips grabbed another six for 76 yards and one TD. Phillips added four carries for 48 yards on the ground, while Franta ran seven times for 37 yards and his fourth TD of the game.

Schavey fired a 43-yard scoring strike to Franta before the Bucs' lethal 1-2 connection worked again, with Franta grabbing a 4-yard TD pass from Schavey.

Schavey then completed a 53-yard spiral to Phillips for six more points before Justus Thelen kicked the PAT. Franta then garnered a 67-yard pass from Schavey to hit paydirt again before fullback Justin Ritter pounded across the goal line on a 4-yard scoring run.

Franta then capped his four-TD night with a 24-yard scoring run before Thelen booted his third PAT of the game.

The Bucs generated 439 yards of total offense, including 219 on the ground.

Camden Bowers made an interception for the Bucs' defense.

Blue Earth Area (2-0) travels to Windom Area next Friday for a 7 p.m. nonconference game.